For His Sake Characters: Adam and Leandro Setting: Tool shed, late afternoon
Adam had hung with Mazie for a while, but when she left to find things for her paper flowers, he drug himself out of his room to find the tools he needed to change his door. He wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to change his door, but he might as well try and find a screwdriver to try and take it down. At least then when Mazie came back and demanded he take it down, he’d be ready. Of course the tool shed wasn’t really the best place for him, since it was hardly his area of expertise. Poking around a few things he found what looked like tools and managed to knock over an entire set of lawn tools, rakes, shovels, and maybe even a hoe with a massive crashing noise.
Now that the day had thoroughly resembled a roller coaster complete with wild highs and crashing lows, Leandro was not in any mood to humor anything. He thought a brisk walk around the courtyard would burn off some of his bitter energy, a cigarette stuck between his lips and leaving puffs behind him like the stack of a train. It wasn't until he had gone halfway around that he heard a nasty crash coming from one of his favorite hiding places – the toolshed. What could possibly be going wrong now?
The shed doors whipped open with Leandro standing there, staring at Adam. His dark eyes were sharp over the mess, taking in the heap of tools and the familiar face present there amongst them.
Then the doors closed again.
… Three seconds later they creaked back open. Leandro muttered to himself and started to hoist up the fallen tools. "I changed my mind. Didn't want you to get stuck in here and starve to death. It might start to stink." Normally that would have been a rather tasteless joke, but the delivery was humorless.
Adam’s head jerked up at the sight of Leandro, a moment of panic running through his veins. He wasn’t exactly stuck, but he was in no position to defend himself, despite being surrounded by viable weapons. Then the doors shut and he let out a breath of relief, starting to push at the equipment before the face was there again.
“I wasn’t going to get stuck,” he grumbled, pushing at a rake. “And I would have found my way out in three days and you should have been more worried about me going into some sort of diabetic coma than starving to death as that would be more likely.”
"Only three days?" Leandro wondered, leaning a shovel over his shoulder for a moment. He wrinkled his nose vaguely. "But you don't get this humor thing. Way too literal. Kind of as I suspected."
He balanced the shovel against a shelf and went for another remaining rake, the way much clearer now once it to was set aside. "What were you doing in here, anyway? Aside from disturbing the peace of our gross little wonderland?"
“Take three days for a person to starve to death,” Adam explained, reaching for another rake and putting it away. “And I’ll have you know I’m actually quite funny. Your delivery was off.” He looked up at Leandro, staring at him for a long moment, feeling close to a million different emotions connected with the guy rise up in his gut. He wasn’t even sure he liked this guy, then there was Kyle who seemed to vouch for him, but Adam wasn’t sold yet. “I wasn’t disturbing the peace. I was just waking everyone up.” He looked around him again. “I was trying to find a screwdriver.”
Leandro gave Adam a plainly fish-eyed stare. "How specific. But if you have to tell someone you're actually funny then you're not funny. Anyway, my delivery is never off."
He smirked to himself confidently at that. He was fully aware that, at the loss of his bloodied handkerchief, he was walking around with the slightest bits of visible red marks amongst all of his tattoos, but he hardly cared for that at this point. His mood was also being colored by the numbness of having had Wren walk out on him and feeling like by this point there wasn't a lot to lose. He had no particular reason to want to impress Adam.
"Well, you did that much right. I wouldn't be surprised if the dead came to tell you to keep it down. What do you need a screwdriver so badly for?”
Adam raised his eyebrow at that, looking Leandro over once more, this time spotting the red marks and wondering what had distracted him from catching that the first time. “It’s alright if you’re off, you’ve been distracted,” he said with a shrug, stepping more carefully this time to get to the tool box he’d spotted earlier. “While everyone else got neat boxes of stuff that I’m sure was cool, I got a new door and a new mirror. So I need the screwdriver to put them up.” And the skill to do the same thing, but he was fine with keeping that part to himself.
"I've been distracted, eh? What makes you say that?" Leandro snorted a short laugh under his breath, but he did step more fully into the tool shed and began to peruse the shelves with one fist tucked under his chin thoughtfully. "Campaigning for freedom and justice is hard work, sure. Somebody's gotta do it, though." His eyes never left the shelves, even if that was something of a jab at Adam for their discussion earlier. He hadn't forgotten that they hadn't ended up on the same side of things by a long shot, but he wasn't about to reveal any form of upset to the other guy. Not their disagreement, not his conversation with Wren, nothing. It was shocking to him in the back of his mind how easily he could put those things aside, like a habit that had grown so strong it happened of its own accord now. At some later hour, maybe then Leandro would break. His gaze dared a flick toward the gasoline tanks on a low shelf but no more than that. For now, there were distractions to be had and people to be insulted.
"You know, though," he added as he reached for something on a middle shelf off to the side. It was an electric drill. Leandro posed with it as if it were a gun, holding the barrel pointed up. "Real men use power tools. You're not going to get that far on a door with a screwdriver and nobody to hold it up on the hinge."
“Not nearly as much work as making out with someone,” Adam countered, cutting his eyes back towards Leandro. “Though I guess I missed the campaigning for freedom part and only focused on the juicy details.” He watched where Leandro’s eyes fell, not wanting to miss a thing this guy did because fuck what Kyle said he didn’t trust him. There wasn’t much to the tanks, not anything he’d be interested in, but maybe he was missing something that wasn’t here.
The drill pointed at him wasn’t okay though. That sent a cold shiver up Adam’s spine though he fought to hold his face more than to just the tiniest of winces. It reminded him too much of Jeffrey. Too much of the fun crazy that always lurked beneath his friend’s smile. “Real men? So that makes you...what?” he asked surprised that his voice was steady, but pleased that it was. Popping open the toolbox he half glanced up at him. “What’s next? You going to offer to be my real man and put my door up for me?”
Before saying anything much, Leandro found a rugged plastic container full of drill bits. He snapped it open and sorted through them with one finger until he found a large Phillips head bit, the type most likely to be on the door. With deft movements he slid out the slotted bit that was there and replaced it with the correct one, tightening the drill's grip on it before gathering up the electrical cord.
"What can I say?" he said lazily as he did so. "Babes dig the bad boys. But as much as you'd maybe love my cool masculine company, I'm taken."
He shot Adam a wickedly toothy grin, satisfied with his answer, and slid the drill over the shelf to him. "Remember: righty tighty, lefty loosey."
Adam had his hand on a screwdriver, but he was watching Leandro with the drill bits, curious why the hell he was so good at that sort of thing. Then again he supposed Leandro was good at plenty of things that involved scaring other people. He rolled his eyes at the comment. “Yeah I know they do.” He’d seen that more than one. “Taken? Really? Must have been one hell of a make out session. Though I highly doubt you’d impress me that much.” Adam didn’t take the drill right away, just staring at Leandro instead.
In turn, Leandro raised a brow at Adam curiously. He briefly wondered what Adam could possibly know, but it hadn't been that long since he'd turned Kyle loose on the world. He didn't imagine that the first thing Kyle went to do after having spent the morning with lips locked to his was to brag to Adam. Or had he...?
"How do you know it was just a make-out session?" he asked. One hand, now free, came up to fan his face. "Am I not exuding sex hard enough? Actually, you're not really my type. No hard feelings though, bro." At that he threw out a teasing wink for show.
“Because you didn’t have the marks yesterday,” Adam pointed out, comfortable with the knowledge. “And that sort of work? That’s first make out session handiwork.” Which Adam had the bare minimum experience with firsthand, but he’d seen the after effects of those sort of nights. “You aren’t. You’re trying to though. I’ll give you that.” That left his eyes dropping to a scowl. “What’s so wrong with me? You aren’t the only tattooed guy in here.” Though Adam only had one and it was far less obvious.
Leandro averted his eyes coyly to the floor, a gentle lift tugging on his brow. "You're either a deceptively good seducer or a master at striking out just before the home run to be such a discerning judge of hickeys. Something tells me I should nickname you Shortstop."
Then he was gliding smoothly into motion again, taking a step closer to Adam and softly flicking his hair out of his eye. He smiled down at him winsomely and added, "Sorry. I didn't know you felt that way. If you wanted my attention all you had to do was ask." His voice went sweetly dusky over the last few notes of his statement.
“Guess you won’t find out,” Adam said trying not to scowl at the nickname. “You can call me whatever the hell you want, but it’s not accurate. I’ll give you that.” It was a smooth lie, a beautiful lie, because Adam wasn’t either. He was just really good at watching friends whose lives revolved around partying and then hooking up afterward.
The only thing that kept him from stepping back was his time in prison. The only thing. He wasn’t that much shorter, just an inch or two but it was enough to give the effect the man wanted. “You’d go from me not being your type to giving it that simply?” he asked, swearing his voice was steadier a moment before. Much steadier.
Well, this was... interesting. The usual response Leandro expected was in fact a step back, or a grossed-out or amused look, or some sort of calling of a short epithet beginning with the letter 'F'. It had been a dare, really, and Adam was looking more nervous and curious than anything, as far as he could see. It made the corners of his smile hitch up just barely perceptively.
"Well, no... not really. It might be like when you're talking to someone and you ask them for their phone number and it's not that they want to make you feel bad, but they slip you the number for Pizza Hut." His eyelashes batted several times to soothe that over a little. "Sorry, there's still someone else on my mind. But it's sweet of you to care."
“Wouldn’t know about that, never happened,” Adam said in regards to the number thing. He was waiting out Leandro, hoping he’d back up first but he wasn’t going anywhere. “But I’m glad you’d rather blow me off,” he said. “Who’s so important that they’ve taken all your attention?”
Leandro's smile sunk into something more enigmatic, close-lipped and heavy-eyed. He turned away from Adam then, taking the step away first to face the shed door. "Wouldn't you like to know?" he sighed before glancing over his shoulder. "You want your door up or what?"
What the fuck was that smile? It was so different from the others that he wasn’t sure what to do with himself for a moment. “Yeah I would like to know. There’s not a lot of options given that you’re not old.” Adam’s hand went to the drill but the question left him speechless of a moment. “I...what are you change your mind about that too?”
Leandro was already pushing the shed door open, whether Adam followed or not. He was sufficiently confident that he'd laid enough of a hook out that Adam would follow. "Not a lot of options? I can't go for somebody older than me? What if I like cougars, huh? I bet there are some hot ones in here." Nevermind that saying so narrowed the list a little further in that his speculation suggested it had not been someone older than himself. Oh well. If Adam guessed, he guessed.
Stepping out into the open air, Leandro just shrugged lightly. "Guess you don't know me very well, do you?"
Adam stared at Leandro’s back for a moment, internally swearing to himself. He knew what this was and without a thought beyond how stupid he was, he was grabbing the drill and following after him. “Because someone older wouldn’t be able to keep up with you. And that’s all that matters,” he said, side-stepping the lawn equipment he’d knocked over the first time. “No, I don’t know a thing about you other than you enjoy fucking with everyone around you. Which let’s be honest, doesn’t really shed any light on anything.” He pushed the shed doors closed then started towards the stairs. If Leandro was coming he could follow this time.
"Or could they?" Leandro shot back with a naughty little laugh. "I don't see any old maids up in here. The women who are older than me are spitfires too. Carmel has some sass. I bet she's an awesome kisser."
His devil-may-care attitude stopped in its tracks as he realized that they were going in the direction of the stairs. Fuck, stairs. His mind raced quickly through his options even while the conversation went on, so that even as he schemed he never missed a beat. "Aw, you don't sound like you're having fun. Maybe we should have some fun."
Here he gave the stairs a lazy, dismissive look. "Race you." He started to lumber off for the elevator, as if that qualified as fun.
“You come on to me in a shed and I’m supposed to believe you’re into cougars?” Adam asked making a face. That hardly made sense. No one was just...that indifferent about who caught their attention were they? The image of Kyle, the one that made Adam want to hug him jumped back into his mind and he shook his head, trying to get rid of it.
“Where was I supposed to be having fun?” he asked, turning to look back and then Leandro was leaving. “Race me where?” Adam called after him then rolled his eyes. “Idiot doesn’t even know where he’s going.” He started towards the stairs again, just assuming he was done with him, but taking them two at a time nonetheless.
Up the stairs, the elevator door chimed and Leandro emerged from it, strolling on his long, rolling gait again. At least that way even if Adam tried to escape, he wouldn't have lost his breath and looked nuts hunting him down. He could just wander into the hallway and look. If Adam actually wanted someone to help him with his door, he wouldn't bolt. That would just be rude.
Adam didn’t bolt. Part of him was curious, curious if Leandro would actually come up elevator or if he’d just elaborately blown Adam off. He was headed this way after all wasn’t he? When Leandro did emerge, Adam was outside his door waiting, drill in one hand. “I won,” he called out, just loud enough for his voice to carry.
"Congratulations," Leandro announced, accepting his mechanically-based loss nonchalantly. He crossed the rest of the hallway between them and then folded his arms over his chest, examining the existing door curiously. "Well, that's kind of pretty," he said of all the scrawling runes up and down the door. "Why do you want to get rid of it? Someone obviously took their time putting it there."
He had a feeling he knew exactly who, too. And he didn't want to talk about that. It took effort not to screw up his face into a mark of pain, but after a few breaths he succeeded and decided to sway the conversation back to something he was having fun with. He stared at Adam from the corner of his eye almost as if to encourage him. "Well, you're just full of theories. Who do you think it was, then?"
Adam cut his eyes darkly at Leandro. “It’s kind of annoying.” He looked at the door and waved a hand at it. I don’t even know what to do with it. I don’t want to take it down but I have a new fucking door with nothing to do with it.” He put his key into the lock, letting himself into the room and motioning towards the door propped against the wall with the mirror laying against it.
His eyes were on Leandro again, wondering about what was there, but not there, like there was an absence of something. Adam knew better than to ask though and he wound up just shrugging. “I’m not sure. It’s not me, obviously. It’s not Becka. There’s a guy with a hoodie who might be your type.”
Leandro sniffed at Adam's comment, taking one last long look at the drawings. "Killjoy. But fine, you're the boss. Maybe there's someone you can give it to who can make it into something more acceptable for you."
He knew he was dropping a hint, and he loved that Adam didn't know he was dropping a hint. He just kept on smiling to himself, wandering inside and looking around. Huh, the bed looked awfully pristine. That was either neuroticism or Adam didn't spend much time in it. He caught sight of the mirror leaning against the door and tilted it towards himself to look at it. It was the standard bathroom mirror.
"What happened here? And no. It obviously wasn't you and it wasn't Becka. I don't know any guy with a hoodie."
The hint went right where it was supposed to, but not the way Leandro meant it. “I was thinking of giving Kyle the door for some project or something. Maybe he can make something out of it. Though I guess it’s not really the same if it’s got the writing all over it.” Adam still had one hand on the door watching Leandro in his room, but not closing them into the room yet. “I don’t know him either. I’ve just seen him around. He’s got a camera. So we’ll rule him out too.” He looked at the mirror and shrugged. “I broke the first one,” he explained holding his still bandaged hand up for Leandro to see.
Just how close Adam had just come to guessing made Leandro smile all the more. He felt absolutely content in his mystery, happy to waver and let Adam take stabs wherever he liked. It was amusing, and it was easier for him to control than the intense emotions that had overtaken the rest of the day before then. "You should do that," he agreed. "I'm sure he could find a way to incorporate the writing into whatever he makes. He's good for it."
He slid the mirror aside to get a look at the new door instead, gauging the shape of the screws in the fresh hinge. Yes, they had brought the correct drill bit. That was good. As for the mirror... "You know, no bad hair day is worth that, man," he said as if to both acknowledge and dismiss the fact. He didn't think he'd get Adam to share and be cozy with him by asking him about it. Best to let him do the work. Leandro could gather well enough that something had triggered his temper, and despite his sometimes even meek appearance he did have something of a temper in there. It was something to look out for. "So that's strike one. Two more guesses."
Mention of Kyle like that had Adam’s features twitching just slightly. “I know he’s good for it,” he said nodding towards the painting sitting on his desk. The trees and the forest that Kyle had made for him. “Though apparently he’s giving you some sort of chance.” Which Adam was pretty sure he didn’t approve of despite Leandro being here, helping put up the new door.
“Yeah well sometimes when I sleep on it, the buzz cut gets all mashed on one side and I just can’t handle it.” Adam said shaking his head and rolling his eyes. He didn’t sleep, he couldn’t fuck up his hair if he tried. No, he’d hit that mirror because he couldn’t bear to see his own damn face. He frowned more, turning back to Leandro, door ignored. “Wren?”
Leandro's head turned when Adam nodded towards the desk, curiosity overcoming him. When he saw what was there, he let the door sit back into place against the wall and left it behind, wandering towards the desk to look. His features smoothed out in a way they hadn't previously, his dark gaze actually bordering towards something soft and contemplative. Ghosting in the air just above the painting, he traced his fingertips over the lines of the trees, admiring them. It was the first time he'd seen a completely finished work of Kyle's, and he liked what he saw. There was looseness and organic beauty, but also the thorough observance he'd come to expect from the artist. It felt like him.
"This is nice. Cool." Leandro covered for himself, stepping away from the painting before too long, as if he had simply been admiring a prize possession of someone's. He returned his focus to the door and tented his fingers out in front of himself to stretch them. "Let's get started, eh? You want to hold or drill? And no. That's strike two."
That change in his face was something that caught Adam’s attention fully. The painting was good, stunning really, but not something that he thought a third party would get caught up in. That Adam lost himself in it when he couldn’t sleep was one thing, it was his painting, Kyle had done it with him in mind and given it to him. That it had Leandro’s attention was something else. No. Mentally he shut down a thought before he let it form properly.
“Yeah I was pretty stoked,” he said about the painting, not quite able to take his eyes off Leandro. “The brunette. Twenties, pretty girl. Tan...” It was a shitty guess, he’d never even seen them in the same space, but he was at a loss for anyone else and he suddenly didn’t want to think about who was marking Leandro anymore. “Here,” he said handing off the drill, not caring about that much either.
Leandro nodded simply, taking the drill. He plugged it into the wall and gave it a test rev, gauging which way it was set to turn. It seemed to be on the right setting, so next he opened the door and held it out propped. There were three screws in each hinge and three hinges. Considering what Leandro could do to a car, this was child's play. He'd have it over in no time. "Okay, just catch this door when it comes loose, and then when we have that one out just hold the new one in straight. If we screw it in crooked there'll be a draft and bugs and shit." Not that it needed to be said, but if Adam had any designs on dropping the door on his face maybe that'd help persuade him not to.
He started at the bottom, squatting on one knee, so that when the door loosened it wouldn't fall from the top and smack both of them. The bit spun on the drill and the screw came out quickly. "Tan? I think I know that girl. She is pretty hot. I wouldn't have minded if it was her. Pretty eyes, nice body. But, I guess you're out, shortstop." He smiled just barely, eyes still focused on his work. In seconds, he had the door clear of the bottom hinge and was leaning up to start on the second.
Adam took the door, giving the back of Leandro’s head a look for the comment about dropping it. Obviously he wasn’t going to drop it. He half leaned on it as he watched Leandro work, listening to him talk. “I guess that’s her, I hadn’t really noticed the other parts.” He didn’t tend to notice those sort of things anyway. “Guess I am, though that name isn’t accurate. We’ve been over this.” He frowned, wishing he wasn’t out of guesses and at the same time he didn’t want to guess any more. He kind of didn’t want to know, something eating at him that hadn’t been there moments before. “You could have at least narrowed down the gender.”
All the hinges were off the first door now. It could be safely pulled away from the wall and have the new one fit into the hardware. Leandro put the drill down and held it from the other side to steady it, then indicated with a flick of his chin to take it away. "Let's lean it next to the other one. Lift nice and easy and slide towards you. Ready? Go,"
It wouldn't be hard to move it inside and set it down. Leandro sort of watched for Adam's bum hand though, trying to help him keep weight off of it. As for what Adam said, Leandro just chuckled slightly, trying to conserve his breath. "I could have," he admitted. And he considered leaving it there for the longest moment. But that would have ended the game, and Leandro would have been a bit disappointed for that. He relented, "Okay, fine. I'll give you one clue. Do you want that to be your clue?"
Despite his hand being hurt Adam didn’t have a hard time lifting the door, maybe a slight hint at the fact that he was stronger than he looked, but the shirt he had on was just a tad too big for him, how he normally wore his shirts, and without it open there was no way to tell that the undershirt under it fit snuggly. After leaning the door against the wall he took a moment to look at it, or more Wren’s handiwork before looking back at Leandro. “I thought I struck out?”
Leandro grinned toothily as he padded his hands off on his pants. Job well done. He appreciated that Adam wasn't a slouch at it even with his hurt hand, so that was points. Glancing up at him, he said in exaggeration, "I'm a nice guy, you know? I'm not totally without mercy. Go ahead, one more shot. Second chance."
After that, he picked up the outside edge of the new door and motioned for Adam to do the same, to carry it to the hinge and fit it into the hardware like a puzzle piece ready to be attached.
Adam wasn’t sure he trusted that grin and shook his head at it. “So that’s what I’m supposed to believe, that you’re a nice a guy,” he said before fully thinking the comment through and if Leandro bailed on him for being an ass he was going to be stuck without a door. “I don’t know who’s left. Charlie.” They were talking earlier when everyone was out by the stocks, though he doubted that was Charlie’s thing. He reached for the door, lifting up his end of it and starting back towards the doorway.
"Yeah, exactly," Leandro agreed, batting his eyelashes several times at Adam. "Ask anyone. What'd I ever do to you, anyway? Aside from say hello, make you a drink, and screw around at the bar like pals." He was calling Adam out a little. He understood mistrust, hesitance, but Adam was almost as stubborn as Kyle. It made him appreciate all the more that the girls like Becka, and at one time Wren, had accepted him so easily. But he had already vowed not to let himself fall into agonizing yet. There was no way to excuse himself now, and the situation still felt so surreal even with the pang in his chest. It'd been a hard day. Maybe she'd come back tomorrow. Yeah. Time helped lots of things.
For a moment Leandro was quiet as he privately organized his feelings again. He picked up the drill and stood up tall, reaching to start screwing in the top hinge. "You sure you just want to barrel ahead?" he asked at last. "I thought you wanted a clue. I won't count that one if you can think of a clue you want to ask for."
Adam didn’t look impressed by the eyelashes or the face. “You picked on my friend, is what was happening at the bar. You also decided to give me a nickname that’s based on my lack of sexual experience in your mind. Or inability to close the deal or whatever. So no. I’m not sure I buy the,” he waved his hand at Leandro. “The whole thing. It’s just meant to be a distraction or whatever.” He watched as Leandro paused, hating that he wanted to know what he was thinking about, whatever had caught him up in his own thoughts for that moment. “I don’t think I care enough anymore.”
The drill whirred deftly in Leandro's hands. He was able to look away from it briefly while working, just smirking down at Adam with his chin still raised to the hinge so that he could flick his eyes back and forth. It was good work, set in nice and straight as he promised.
"I didn't pick on Kyle, for one. He and I are totally cool. We talked before we met at the bar, you know? I'd already introduced myself and we had plans to hang out and draw. You're kind of sensitive, aren't you?" He laughed airily again, freely shaking his head, before moving on to the next set of hinges. "Distraction from what? I'm here installing a door for you and openly letting you take blatant stabs at my own love life. Sounds pretty nice to me. If I was an asshole I could just sort of leave and let you poke at this door with a screwdriver until your hands exploded in blisters. And you still have a mirror to figure out after that. Maybe I shouldn't tell you about the screws that release it from the wall brackets, or how to open the brackets and slide the mirror in."
“He said that, that you’re ‘cool’ and I promptly reminded him that I don’t trust you.” Adam made a face. “I’m not sensitive. I’m just overly familiar with bullies.” Way too familiar. And different brands of them, since the bullies in high school were nothing like the bullies in prison. “I didn’t ask you to do this. I would have been fine. Mazie was going to help. It’s a distraction from who you are. It’s all this game and this guessing and for all I know you might not even tell me if I got it right, just to fuck with me. Even Kyle says it’s hard to get a straight answer out of you and like you said you two are cool.”
"When did you see me bully Kyle? And why doesn't Kyle just say I bullied him, then?" Leandro answered, but his voice was smooth and calm. It didn't seem like Adam's accusations bothered him. "He's no wuss. If I bullied him he'd probably get up in my face and say so."
He smiled at that, much more warmly this time. There was even something sweet about it as he mentioned Kyle. He let the much more pleasant thought of him sink into himself as he squatted back down on his knees again to get the last three screws. "I like Mazie too, though. We're also cool. I can't think of a single person you know who hates me. Also, I don't necessarily have to tell you at all. It's my personal information. Not to mention, it's also his. Even if he was sweet enough to tell me it's okay if I talk about it."
“Because Kyle’s nice. He’s nice to me, and I’m pretty sure he has every right not to be. Why wouldn’t he be nice to you? And I doubt he’d get in anyone’s face about anything.” Kyle just didn’t seem the type. That smile though, the one Leandro was wearing was unsettling. There was no real reason for it, but it left a weird twisting in his stomach that made him too uncomfortable to speak for a moment. “For all I know you’re the person Mazie has been told she shouldn’t be hanging out with,” he added though he wasn’t sure if it was Leandro she’d been talking about. “I don’t care. You aren’t actually talking about it. You’re just flaunting that you have. I could do the same thing, but I’m not flaunting it.”
Oh? It was sort of funny that Adam didn't know this little facet of Kyle's personality. Leandro was thinking of how earlier on, when Kyle had been bothered by Becka's assessment of their fun, he'd come right up and confronted Leandro about his intentions. Sure, he'd been awfully serious for what they'd done, but he hadn't been afraid to say it. That much was a good sign for Leandro. He liked that Kyle could do that. He'd said so himself that he wasn't about to be pushed around, and no matter what Adam thought, Leandro wasn't inclined to do that. Not to him. He was still smiling pleasantly to himself as he finished up on the hinges, then stood and gave the door an experimental swing.
"Good as new," he said, watching it move neatly on the hinges. Now he could focus more fully on Adam's face. "Kyle is nice. Fantastic, even. But he's not a push-over. You don't have to worry too much about him. And I don't know anything about that thing with Mazie. I doubt it's me. But you know..."
Here Leandro folded his arms over his chest, regarding Adam with one lifted brow. "You have like no sense of humor. You really don't like games, at all. I think you're very uncomfortable when things aren't laid out for you, and that's too bad. Life's a lot more fun when you stop trying to micromanage it."
“I know he’s not a push over,” Adam said, shaking his head. “I know he doesn’t want to be protected and he can take care of himself, but doesn’t mean I can just turn it off.” He had few people in his life, always had and he’d always found himself protective of them if only to to keep them in his life. He tested the door himself, hating that it was as Leandro said, good as new. He didn’t want to owe this guy anything. Looking back over at him, he raised an eyebrow at him. “You don’t know a damn thing about me,” he corrected to start. “Though I’ll give you one thing, since we’re being nice. No. I don’t like games. I have had enough with games. I know what lurks underneath the games and it’s not pretty. That’s why I don’t trust you. You can seem all nice guy, but when push comes to shove, I don’t know you. I don’t know what you’re capable of and I’ve seen enough to know that I should be hesitant of that.” And Adam honestly wasn’t interested in having fun. Surviving seemed far more important.
"Well..." Leandro murmured as he watched Adam test the door too. It had passed, so that was a relief. Maybe that'd help Adam relax even a little? He was still talking at least. He didn't seem to have a problem with that, even if in Leandro's opinion he was still rather guileless. In front of the wrong people, even being openly suspicious could be dangerous. It made him remember Wu, and how close that interaction had come to bad news. If he had shown real fear or dislike, Leandro had no doubt that Wu would have smashed the mug into his face.
Still, for whatever reason Adam was Kyle's friend, so Leandro couldn't write him off as a time bomb yet. Maybe it would even please Kyle to try to smooth things over with him. Leandro considered how he might begin. "I guess that's a nice thing. That you want to look out for Kyle. If anyone deserved it, it'd be him."
With a soft sigh, Leandro stepped forward to engage Adam more closely. His expression mellowed considerably. "Look, that's fair enough. I know just as well as you that there are a lot of people in the world to be suspicious of. If what it takes is to play by your rules then fine," He opened his palm, the other one still carrying the drill, and held his arms open in a gesture of invitation. "Ask me if there's something you want to know. But you know what? I really like Kyle. I mean, really. We've been spending a lot of time together, and I would like nothing more than to see him again. He's sweet and brilliant and he gets me. So, it'd be great if you could be cool with me too."
“He’d be completely pissed if he heard me say it, since I got close to it once and he almost bit my head off,” Adam said about Kyle. But then there’d been that other moment, where Kyle had needed him and all he wanted to do was not fail him.
What Leandro said made that twist in his stomach worse. There was an obvious answer for it. A really, really obvious answer and Adam was strictly ignoring it. He didn’t want it to be true. It couldn’t be true. “I don’t want to know anything about you. And I want you to stay away from him.” Adam didn’t step back but his shoulders did square up more, eyes narrowed. “But I also know you won’t listen. But you know those people in the world you should be suspicious of? I’m one of them.” Well, maybe he was. He was feeling it now. He’d seen enough threats made good that maybe he could do the same if the situation was right. And there always was a chance he was was a murderer.
Leandro's expression turned just a little too smooth now, the corner of his mouth hitched up in a curl of dark amusement. He didn't step away either, even as Adam squared up at him. His own presence was like a shadow; he had learned over many years how to make even his wiry frame feel larger, to expand and press in in uncomfortable ways. He saw Adam's bluff and rose his own.
"Are you threatening me?" he asked, his voice gliding low. "Really? So who's being the creep now, huh? Do you tell Kyle that you do this for him? Telling guys he's close to to stay away from him, being possessive and controlling. I don't think that's the kind of friend he wants. You said it yourself... you almost let the cat out of the bag once and he bit your head off." For the briefest of seconds, his eyes flickered towards the broken mirror opposite him. "You have a problem, dude."
And if the problem became worse, Leandro was reasonably confident that he was still holding an electric drill and had a knife in his boot, and Adam had a messed-up hand. Plus, he was learning something valuable about Adam's true colors, something Kyle would need to know if this got too ugly.
Possessive. It was just an unheard of sort insult to come Adam’s way that he blanched for a second at it, losing strides in his confidence and aura of being tougher than he probably was. He’d never been possessive of a damn thing because he’d never had something to be possessive about. “I haven’t done it before, ever. So no. He doesn’t know. And he doesn’t have to know. But if you hurt him, you’ll answer to me.” That sounded right even if Adam wasn’t sure if it worked like that. “I have a lot of problems. You were there. Chock full of issues.”
Leandro could have all the gentleness of a shark in these moments; as soon as a hole opened up in his opponent's facade he moved in, pressing in on him harder, his eyes even more stony. He wanted to leave Adam with a certain impression. They could be friends or they could be enemies, but Leandro was not someone to push around either. He also wasn't about to make Kyle some kind of contested battleground. He would not feed Adam's seeming compulsion to have him to himself.
"Now that just sounds shady," he drawled into Adam's face. "He doesn't have to know? I think he should know. He should know that you're threatening a guy he chose to kiss, who he has plans to spend more time with, and who I am sure he hopes his friends will like. If I hurt him – which I don't plan to – I'm not answering to you. Not by a long shot. I'm answering to him and to myself. Game over, Adam. I'm not playing."
Contact was bad, lots of bad and everything in Adam fought against the light push he gave Leandro to get out of his face. Chose to kiss. Everything about that line had Adam’s gut feeling like it hit his feet, cheeks pinking unintentionally and with no real reason for it that he could muster. “I don’t have to like you,” he said, words with a bite as he tried to urge Leandro out of his personal space. “Even if he wants me to. I don’t like you. Get the hell out of my room.”
Leandro was prepared for the push, almost expecting it as he crossed a certain line between them. His shoulders were hard and didn't give, not until he chose to step back. He shouldered the drill, intent on taking it with him. Adam could figure out the rest of his issues for himself. Still, the pink in his cheeks was interesting. Leandro didn't miss that, and he thought it told him a little something about Adam's motivations. He smirked even more angularly.
"No. No you don't. But for his sake..." Leandro trailed off, twirling the drill's cord around his arm with a few short flicks. "You're welcome, bro. Enjoy the new door. Too bad you didn't appreciate the old one. See you around."
He turned to go as asked, his slow stroll easily mistaken for cockiness. He would head back towards the elevator and prepare to see Becka, who he thought he had quite a lot of stories to tell to now.
But for Kyle’s sake what? He had to like this guy? That was going to take an awful lot of convincing. “I didn’t ask for your help,” he blurted. “But fine thanks, get lost.” As soon as Leandro left he closed the door on him, locking it, then resting his head against it. He and Kyle had way too much to talk about.